Puppet Strings
by Melodious Nocturne Stalker
Summary: “I tell them not to come back every time. It always happened that way. So why is it that when I see him turn away, I panic every time…?” “He’s the oddest person I’ve met. He’s an asshole, so why can’t I leave him alone?” :AU: AkuRoku : M: Language/Themes
1. The AllTooOrdinary

As a celebration of my return as an artist, since I got my external hard drive with all my other stories and stuff on it back

**WhhAs a celebration of my return as an artist, since I got my external hard drive with all my other stories and stuff on it back (yay!), I'm starting a new story.**

**Same old fandom, same old pairing…. Same old disclaimer, cause the characters aren't mine.**

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it! I'll try to do more from now on.**

**The Melodious Nocturne Stalker**

**WARNINGS: This fic depicts a yaoi pairing. If you don't like it, don't read it. If you do, don't flame. Constructive criticism, otherwise known as concrit, is always appreciated, but phrase it politely. So, let's review. Yaoi haters, shoo. Concrit/Support is A-OK. Flamers, go burn in your hatred.**

**RATED FOR: Language, Themes**

**RUNDOWN: (Told from the point of view of Axel for chapter one. The point of view will change to Roxas in the second chapter, and will continue to change back and forth accordingly.) **_**"I tell them not to come back every time. It always happened that way. So why is it that when I see him turn away, I panic every time…?" "He's the oddest person I've met. He's an asshole, so why can't I leave him alone?" :AU: AkuRoku : M: Language/Themes**_

It was a morning like any other for me. I woke up early, turned on my cell phone, deleted the messages from my new ex, and got dressed. Breakfast was the usual—just cold cereal and milk—and by the time the bus came around I was already halfway to school, walking leisurely along the back roads that was the short cut straight to the school building.

I didn't carry and books with me; never did, since I never really did the work anyway. I was what you might call a 'problem' kid. I did my fair share of pranks, vandalism, and harassment. I'd served plenty of time, from Saturday detentions to week-long suspensions. I dated girls left and right, got bored with them after a few weeks tops, and tossed them aside.

I was the school's 'trash'.

Not that I really cared. As long as I was satisfied with what I was, what I was doing… I really couldn't have cared less about the consequences. It was all a game, a show, a play. I was a character in a story, and this was the role I was meant to play. When it was all over, I'd die and either go to some heaven or hell, be reincarnated as some kind of a bug, or just cease to exist altogether.

Funny thing was, it took one hell of a hit to realize that I actually did care… It took that hard of an impact for me to see that I wasn't satisfied anymore…

No one I knew would have believed I'd ever change. I was always very reliable in my actions, not that the thing people could rely on wasn't my being unpredictable, of course. But that was my character. That was my role. And so, when I was walking along the too-beaten path I'd gone on nearly every day in order to get to school for the last three and a half years, I was even more shocked than your regular car-struck pedestrian when that red car, beaten to hell to the point of being unidentifiable, came flying toward my ungodly thin, redheaded body and crashed into me.

It was by sheer luck that I jumped up in time so that the only real damage was my arm breaking through the windshield and my hip hitting the front of the car…. Unless, of course, you count rolling over the car 'real damage'. However, it was enough for me to pass out on that hardly-passed back road. The last thing I remembered seeing was the driver already passed out at the wheel—probably the reason he didn't even try miss me—so I figured I wouldn't be found, that I'd just sit there and bleed to death. I figured my role was ended; my character had been cut from the script. My puppet master was bored, and therefore my strings had been cut.

Little did I know that my part had only begun.

When I came to, it was through the coaxing of a soft voice. I couldn't make out the words up front, but in the back of my head I knew what it was saying. "Get up…. On your feet, come on."

And when I started to see color and light… I was already halfway there. I looked around, shook my head—and found out that that wasn't a good plan as I started to fall over. An arm caught my around my back, and when I looked at the figure it connected to, the only thing I saw were slightly worried, bright blue eyes staring at me. Soon, I started to notice skin, tanner than mine. Then blonde hair made its appearance, spiked up and rather messy—not that mine wasn't—and bangs falling in his face a bit. When I looked at the free hand hovering over me (his left, I assumed), I noticed a chessboard-patterned wristband and black and white rings. And as everything else became clear (or at least as clear as it would) it seemed that his entire outfit was made of black and white, with just a bit of red.

… All of them, colors (shades, whatever) I liked. Not that it mattered. What mattered was that I had been hit by a car on my way to school and that this kid was trying to help me up.

"Come on… On your feet. I can't carry you, you're too tall."

"Ugh… What the hell…?" Yeah, I know. I'm so graceful after being hit by a car, aren't I? That grace was underlined about three seconds later when I tried to stand upright and fell to the side. The kid caught me again.

"Whoa—Be careful…" He said, steadying me against him. I would have protested, but I was still under the shock of 'I just got hit by a car'.

It didn't take too terribly long for me to be conscious enough to speak. And when I did, I was still just as graceful. "Erg…. Hey… what're you doing…?"

"… Helping you. What's your name?"

Somewhere after that statement, I laughed, apparently, because the kid gave me a weird look. I guess I thought small talk was funny after an incident like this. "Axel."

"… Axel… Well, uh…" He seemed to struggle with finding something to say. I could tell he wasn't the most outgoing person—his voice was pretty quiet. "Erm… Are you… okay? I mean, uh. Where are you hurt?"

I didn't even notice that he was having no trouble holding me up. But when I look at it now, he was really stronger than he looked. "… I'm alright…" I said, before I put my arm out to give myself a little extra balance and noticed the shining shards of glass and red blood. It was cut in several places with the clear glass sticking out. "…. Oh…"

The boy gaped at my arm. "…. Alright? That does _not_ look very alright to me."

"Y'know…? It doesn't look too alright to me either." I blinked at it a few times.

"We should get you to the hospital." And everything would have gone fine had I not moved… The pain in my hip shot through the entire right side of my body, causing me to stop and nearly fall over hissing in pain. The blonde tried to set me down, but I clung to him. At the time, I wanted him to stay there, to help me move. I hated relying on people, but it had to be done. I'd make it up to the boy later.

After a long silence where he studied me, we moved with a lot of hissing to the closest place that had anything to do with fixing medical issues—the school nurse. I was set down in the examining room, and with a little bit of arguing over whether or not he had the right to, the kid was able to stay with me there. I didn't blame the nurse for being protective—it was her job.

The kid kept cringing every time she pulled a shard of glass from my arm, even though I wasn't really having a hard time keeping my face straight. A twitch here and there, but nothing more, and nothing near what that boy seemed to be experiencing. She asked him over and over if he wanted to leave, and he kept shaking his head. After a little bit, he asked me how I could stand it. With a weak smile, I told him it was because I was used to pain. I don't think he liked the answer—he looked confused, and a little bit distressed.

The nurse took a load off of the kid's shoulders when she told us that nothing was broken. My hip was badly bruised, as were a couple ribs, and my arm would be alright now that it was bandaged up. She told me I was very lucky, that most people wouldn't have even survived going halfway through a windshield and flipping up over the roof of the car to land on the road. She said it must have been my instinctive reflexes—she knew I'd been in my fair share of fights…

I tried to stand up, not thinking much of it. If I could, I'd go to class and sleep. If not, I'd stay here and do the same. Either way I got my rest.

It was after a worried shout of my name from the kid and a pair of hands on my shoulders holding me up that I realized I was now staring at the ceiling. Apparently, I'd fallen backwards. Apparently, I'd be staying in the clinic to get my sleep. The nurse led me to a bed near the back, and the boy followed us. Then she turned to face him.

"Honey, you can go back to class now."

"N—… I don't want to. I wanna stay here with Axel."

She looked sternly down at him. "Now, come on… What's your name?"

The blonde looked at me, and then back to her. "… Roxas."

She put her hand on his shoulder. "And what class do you have this period?"

"First hour…? I have Shop."

She released his shoulder and crossed her arms, staring down at him. "… And don't you have to be in class to get the credit?"

Roxas shook his head. "I don't really care about one day. I have a perfect score in that class—and I'm passing all my others with at least an 85. I can _afford_ to miss it."

"Now, now. Just because you can afford to miss it doesn't mean you should, Roxas. Now, go back to class!"

The blonde stood his ground, looked to me for a little bit of guidance. "… But…"

"No 'but's, Roxas, go."

The second he turned around, without even realizing I was doing it (Since, ya know, I wasn't even aware of ninety percent of my actions at the time) I reached out and grabbed his wrist. Something in me was panicking, and I couldn't have stopped myself if I _had_ been aware. Roxas whipped around, eyes wide with surprise as if he'd thought I'd wanted him gone. The nurse looked down at me and shot me a look. "Axel, let him go."

"Can't he stay…?" I asked, looking up right back at her. She was silent for a while, but she sighed, shook her head, and walked over to get a chair for Roxas.

"Not the whole day. At lunch time, you're leaving, Roxas." He quickly nodded, and looked down at me. He smiled just slightly, and sat down as the nurse was leaving.

There was a long silence hanging over us as I closed my eyes. I was trying to sleep, but at the same time I knew I wouldn't. Not with Roxas there. After a while, I knew I had to talk.

"So, your name's Roxas…"

He nodded. There was so much going on in his eyes when I looked up at him, I couldn't pick out what he was thinking. All I could tell was that there was a very defiant and determined look to his pretty little underclassmen face. It was difficult to think that there was a human being I couldn't persuade to do one thing or another, but at that moment I thought that if I'd told him to do anything, he'd just stay there and stare at me.

It was about then that I realized I was the one who was staring now, and when I did, it also hit me that he looked closer than he had before… Must have been my imagination, but that didn't seem any better. My imagination was never the best for finding legitimate excuses for my problems. And as another train of thought tried to make me forget that I was staring at him, his voice broke into my mind.

"… How much does it hurt?"

"… Hmm? Not much…" In truth, I hurt all over. Bruised ribs, cut-up arm, bumps and scratches all over the place… I wasn't in great shape, even if nothing was broken.

"I don't know how you could stand having that glass pulled out of your arm. I mean, I would have made it if it was me, but you barely even flinched!"

"Well… I didn't really think it hurt. I take pain well."

"… You're crazy…" Roxas seemed more distressed than he was trying to let on. But, I decided I'd let it slide.

"That's what people tend to tell me."

There was a rather long pause before anything was said between the two of us. It was one of those times where both people want to say something, but neither one doe. Like… something important… and you can both feel it, so neither person says anything, thinking the other will go first.

For this situation, it was Roxas. "Axel?"

"… Hmm?"

"You're… mn…"

"What's up?"

He was quiet, looking like he was concentrating. I could tell—his eyebrows knitted together and he frowned. He was confused about something, maybe debating on whether or not he should say what he wanted to. When it came out, I couldn't have even begun to prepare for it.

"You're alone, aren't you?"

--

**New concept kind of thing. Roxas will be the one telling the second chapter, and it will switch back and forth It'd be great if you guys could review.**

**The Melodious Nocturne's Stalker**

**P.S.: I didn't do anything to well… revise this. So it may suck. :D;;**


	2. The Unexpected

Yeah, sorry about the late start to this chapter

**Yeah, sorry about the late start to this chapter. Trapped in the Cold kinda got my attention first, sorry guys. This one's starting off okay, though. Kinda lost my place in it and it's not really planned out or anything, but hey, it's going. Winging it is what I seem to do really well, I guess.**

**So! Guess who's starting this chapter with going on veeeery little sleep for the weekend? Nyeah. I hope this doesn't sound retarded.**

**And I'm also ending this without getting much more sleep…**

**So, thanks to those of you who reviewed; I write for you guys, and it makes it all worthwhile to know that you like what I do.**

Life was pretty normal for me. I had a regular family, lived in a regular house, had my own little group of friends, got mostly B's and A's… I had it good. My parents made an okay living, enough for us to get more than just the essentials, but not everything. I was just a normal kid leading a normal high school life.

I gave to the drives at school, I was okay at sports, and I was no one's enemy. I always had a date for the dances; there were parties every now and then that I was invited to. Special things—big things, the kind that got on the news or were gossiped about constantly—never happened to me. I wasn't Somebody, but I was far from Nobody.

In fact, I was the perfect middle ground of the social ladder, and from where I stood, I could see it all. I could see the lowest of the low, grumbling threats to themselves and to others, hating the higher-ups for being high-up. I could see the highest of the high, their noses in the air, their scornful eyes bestowing hatred on people they didn't know. And, I could see the others standing on my platform, happy with where they were and never expecting to need to change. They were average. They were satisfied.

This was probably why it shocked me so much that I'd found someone lying on the ground in the middle of some back road on the way to school. I had saved the guy's life… Seriously, I had no idea what to do when I saw him; just that I needed to get him somewhere, and fast. That wasn't my forte. That wasn't the kind of thing I thought I was meant to do.

So when we were in the nurse's office about an hour later, I was shocked at both myself and at Axel for what had happened.

He looked bewildered—completely stricken with surprise. I didn't even fully understand what I'd meant when I'd said "You're alone", but apparently I knew something he didn't think anyone did. I just shook my head afterwards, and looked away.

"Wh… what did you say…?"

"Never mind… It's nothing," I answered quickly, doing my best to avoid explanation. He wanted one—I could see that. But at the same time, I think he was a bit afraid of it, because he closed his eyes and dropped the subject.

"It's… not 'nothing'. Tell me," He demanded, looking somewhat concerned. I figured it was for his own well-being, for whatever secret I was finding out. When I'd said it, I guess I was just noticing things about him… And so, I decided I'd voice that. At the time, that's what I thought I'd meant.

"I… I mean… You don't have… a lot of family, do you? No one called any parents or anything when you were hurt, and you didn't mention needing to tell anyone what happened…"

I don't think it could have mattered what the reason was that I gave. Axel could tell I knew more, even though I wasn't sure what it was that I knew. I'd obviously upset him, and he didn't look like he was going to be happy any time soon. However, I'd thought I was in the clear after that until he turned around and landed a kick right to my mental face.

"Why did you want to stay?" He asked, and he didn't fail at all to show that he was intending to get back at me with his words. He stared at me again now, and I could tell through his eyes that he was trying to get me worked up.

So, why didn't I keep myself from complying with his silent wish?

Looking back at it, I feel kind of stupid for letting it get to me, staring at him with the exact same look on my face as he'd had a few moments earlier. At the time, I was asking myself the same question. Why had I stayed? Why had I made an argument to stay? Was it because… when he looked at me, he looked like he wanted me to? Was it because I pitied him, or was it because I really wanted to?

I had to give him an answer. "… B-because," I began so gracefully. Obviously, we had that in common. "I help a guy who got hit by a car, and then just go to class without acting like it was a big deal?"

"So, you're putting on a show."

I gave him a look. "No. I'm just worried, I guess. I should be here, just to make sure you're okay."

Axel paused before answering. He seemed to be thinking over what I'd said, and even though he'd taken his time answering, it didn't seem like he'd missed a beat at all.

"Don't you have friends to go talk to about this?"

"Well, yeah… But I feel like I should stay with you in case something goes wrong," I replied. That didn't prepare me for what happened next, and I think that under any other circumstances, the outcome would have been the same.

"So you feel like you've got an obligation to be near me." The very idea of pity seemed to upset him. He didn't even know if it was true yet, and neither did I, but he already looked like he was flirting with an explosion.

"No, that's not it…" I tried to convince him, though even I doubted myself.

"Then what is it? Love at first sight? Sorry, kid, I don't swing your way," He retorted, looking rather annoyed.

This little comment had a similar effect on me. I was outraged at it. How could he even possibly think I were… gay? I wasn't! "What's your problem, Axel? Besides the blood loss and the car wreck. Were you this much of an asshole before it, too?"

"Always have been, Roxas. Obviously, you are very, very observant. I'm proud of you." He said, a complete look of disinterest on his face.

Something in me seemed to snap at this, and at the time I wasn't sure what it was. Looking back on it, I think I excused it as being angry at him for being so rude to me after I'd saved him. But that wasn't it, and I know that now. Regardless of the reasoning, I still broke, I still snapped, and I still yelled.

"You know what, Axel? Forget it."

"Forget what?" He asked, a sudden look of slight concern on his face, as if he hadn't meant to piss me off. Too late for apologies, though.

"Forget _you._ I'm going to class. Have fun with life, _buddy,_" I hissed, standing up and grabbing my backpack. I ignored the nurse on my way out, heading to my second hour and waiting outside the classroom door for first hour to end.

The whole day went pretty uneventfully after that. From what I remember, the classes seemed to draw out longer than usual, and I was a little irritable. A friend of mine tried to get me to smile and be happy, but I ended up just up and leaving after enduring a couple of minutes. Yeah, I was a little irritable. At the time, I knew I was hurting my friends' feelings, but I also didn't care right then. I just wanted to get away from people, because I wanted to be alone to think about what had happened—not to mention, I probably would have hurt them more by staying around them.

It wasn't until after school that I saw Axel again, and believe me, I wasn't in the mood to. I'd stayed after for the drama club meeting; I went because I knew that having it on my college application would look good. It would tell them I was outgoing, a people person—which I wasn't, really, but I could act. I'd also stayed even longer than needed, to clean up after rehearsal, so I was practically the only student left.

Or so I'd thought.

I was walking to my locker, halls vacant of staff and student body, my footsteps echoing softly through the structured walls. When I got there, I knelt down to put my books away. I stood up and started to turn, a hand slamming into the door of the locker next to mine, and I found myself face-to-face with tall, red, and too skinny.

Thinking about it now, I could liken the look on his face to that of a hardened soldier staring death in the face. I'll never forget that look. He looked angry, but at the same time, sad. He was staring down that black angel, angry that he had to go, and depressed at what he would be leaving behind. But I knew he wasn't dying… and I was nowhere near death.

I just stared at him for a bit, not knowing what to do. Wasn't he supposed to be home by now? He hadn't waited for me, had he? How could he have? He hadn't even known me until that morning, anyway. I leaned back slightly, turning my back to the lockers a bit more as I glared a sidelong glance at him.

This turned out to be a very bad thing to do. His other hand came around—the wraps on his arm just barely dotted red here and there—and slammed into my locker, on the other side of my shoulders. I'd given him an opening without realizing it, and he'd taken it.

I was pinned.

I felt my face tense and heat up with blush, and I must have looked pretty shocked. I know this, because when I tore my eyes from his hands and looked up at his face, he was smirking. He was amused at my being so surprise, at my failure to keep composed, against my usual calm outer shell that he must have picked up on from my lack of pure panic in the morning's situation.

I felt a tight feeling in my chest as he stared down at me, my stomach lifting slightly and my heart beginning to race. I didn't understand what he was doing, or what he wanted. There was an admiration of sorts lacing that suddenly less-angry look in his eye, expression turning more playful. I was expecting a lot of things, and yet nothing at all. I expected a snarky comment. I expected even a hit to the stomach for what I'd said to him.

However, what I was not expecting… was for Axel to, in one swift movement, draw himself close and press his lips against mine.

Now here, I must confess that it embarrasses me now, to look back at this. Let alone talk about it… It was a very interesting experience, one I'll never _ever_ forget. However, it was very conflicting for me… and I'll also never forget how torn I was on my decision in the aftermath.

Heat surged through my body, everything tensed, the world paused, and eight thousand things exploded into my mind; paths for the courses of action in the situation, questions, answers, cries for help, pleas for more. I was instantly lost in this, and I didn't believe there was anything that could be done to sort it all out. Not fast enough, anyway.

The moment was longer lived than I'd thought it was going to be initially, and at first, I'd wanted to let him, even though I wasn't sure why he was kissing me or what the hell was wrong with the scene playing out in the empty halls. However, the longer the kiss dragged on, the slower time seemed to move. I couldn't tell whether or not I should push him off, hold him there, or just wait without responding until he stopped.

The problem with the third option was that, when I noticed what _I_ was doing, it was too late, and I was already opening my mouth as his tongue traced along my lower lip. He took advantage of that, and the heated kiss only got more passionate. I didn't know where the passion came from. But when I started focusing on what was going on, on _who_ I was kissing, I knew something had to be done.

I just didn't know what.

I tried to push him off of me—that didn't end the way I'd planned. Actually, when I pushed forward, I forgot to use my hands, and only succeeded in deepening the kiss. When I tried to protest, it only came out as a muffled plea for more. This wasn't going how I wanted—or was it?—and I was powerless to do anything until the thoughts of the earlier conversation exploded to the front of my mind, my morals finally kicking in enough that I could drop my books, raise my hands, press them against his shoulders, and push him off of me. His hands stayed next to me, keeping me in place as he stared down at me, expression unreadable.

I couldn't stay silent now. I had to say something, or damnit, my arms would disobey me and bring him back. "Wh-what was that about..? What the hell is _with_ you?!" I almost yelled, pressed against the lockers.

His expression turned slightly, to embarrassed, yet proud and teasing. "That was payment… for saving my life," He said, finally speaking to me.

"I thought you didn't 'swing my way'?" I retorted, snapping for the fact of knowing how utterly embarrassed I was.

He grinned at me, bringing one hand over to run a few fingers along my jaw. I froze again, tensing up as he leaned down close to me. "I guess I changed my mind… Just for you," he purred, his lips just slightly touching mine as he spoke. He pulled away after that, and left me to stand there alone, disappearing around the corner as his nonchalant pace and stance carried him toward the front entrance of the school.

I waited there, eyes wide with bewilderment. When I heard the far-off noise of the big metal doors clanking shut, I crumbled, sliding against the locker until I hit the ground. My knees up to my chest, I stayed where I was for a long time, just trying to contemplate what had happened, why he'd done this to me?

I'd never thought I could be gay or bisexual until that day, and after what had happened, I didn't know what to think. Either I wasn't straight, or he was just that good of a kisser. I couldn't tell. In fact, about the entire situation, there was only one thing that I knew for sure.

Tomorrow would be one hell of a school day.

**ASGJIASJGISAJFIOASJ First kiss scene for any of my fanfics, and it's in the second chapter, lol.**

**Short chapter is short. Sorry, guys, there just wasn't a lot to put in here this time. That was, I thought, a nice place to end the chapter anyway.**

**Reviews/suggestions/constructive criticism will be LOVED DEARLY!! Don't let me down, guys! Anna gets sad. D:**

**Till next we meet,**

**The Melodious Nocturne Stalker**

**(A.K.A., Anna)**


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